Written Answers Thursday 30 August 2007

Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence is of alcoholism, broken down by age group, and what comparative information it has for (a) the United Kingdom as a whole, (b) each EU member state and (c) each OECD nation.

Shona Robison: The numbers of patients discharged from Scottish general acute hospitals in 2005-06 and psychiatric hospitals in 2004-05 with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence (ICD10 code F10.2) by age group is given in the following table.

  Comparative information for the United Kingdom, EU member states and OECD nations is not held centrally.

  

 
General Hospitals
2005-06
Psychiatric Hospitals
2004-05


All ages
3,414
2,352


Under 15 years
2
0


15 to 19 years
20
20


20 to 24 years
68
70


25 to 29 years
103
159


30 to 34 years
180
267


35 to 39 years
312
368


40 to 44 years
433
430


45 to 49 years
470
358


50 to 54 years
471
268


55 to 59 years
400
194


60 years and over
955
218



  Source: ISD Scotland (SMR01 and SMR04).

Castle Tioram

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture intends to invite Lex Brown of Anta Estates for a meeting to seek an application for the development of Castle Tioram.

Linda Fabiani: Castle Tioram is an ancient monument of national importance scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Any development would require scheduled monument consent, obtained on behalf of Scottish ministers through Historic Scotland.

  In August 2006, Historic Scotland wrote to Lex Brown of Anta Estates to provide him with guidance to assist with any future scheduled monument consent application for Castle Tioram. It would be for the owner to approach Historic Scotland for further advice or to submit a fresh application. On 27 July, Mr Brown was interviewed on STV’s north regional news programme stating his intention to submit proposals for the castle. Following the interview Historic Scotland wrote to Anta Estates on 30 July to advise that they looked forward to receiving the revised application. As is normal practice, once Historic Scotland receive the application it will be judged on its individual merits.

  It would be inappropriate for Scottish ministers to procure an application for scheduled monument consent as this would prejudice their role in the consent process.

Housing

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it proposes to take to support the Highland Council in tackling its £160 million housing debt.

Stewart Maxwell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-2909 on 14 August 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

International Relations

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions are taking place with the UK Government regarding future representation of the Executive in the United States of America and Europe.

Linda Fabiani: We are currently considering the replacement of the First Secretary of Scottish Affairs in the USA. In this, as in other overseas representation, we are keeping the Foreign and Commonwealth Office informed.

Law

Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that all local authorities fully implement the provisions of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 and that parents are made aware of appropriate placements and services across their own and adjacent local authority areas in order that they can make an informed choice about their children’s education.

Adam Ingram: We have provided education authorities with guidance on their duties arising from both the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006.

  The implementation of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 is already being evaluated. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) are monitoring and evaluating the consistency, effectiveness and efficiency of education authorities in implementing the new legislation. An interim report of their findings can be found on the HMIE website at: http://www.hmie.gov.uk/publication.asp, with a final report of their findings due to be published in November 2007. HMIE are also monitoring how the Parental Involvement Act is being implemented as part of their regular programme of inspections of schools and education authorities.

  In respect of placements, all education authorities are required to make information available to parents about their schools and the type of education provision they can offer. Where an education authority is unable to offer appropriate provision through its own services, it should provide parents with information on alternative forms of provision that are available in other education authorities, grant-aided or independent schools.

Law

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who in the Executive determines whether action on an issue is ultra vires.

Bruce Crawford: Ministers make decisions which are informed by advice from officials.